Rolling Star
by Seto's Darkness
Summary: Okay, so let's restart Naruto from the first few episodes. Team Seven would be… Uzumaki Naruto. Haruno Sakura. Sai. Since Kakashi, your supposed mentor, is out on a year long mission, Uchiha Sasuke shall be your new jounin instructor. [SasuNaru, others]


**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything. 

**Inspired by**: This idea has been around for quite sometime already, actually D: And in celebration of me finishing the final exams, getting 75000 hits on my profile, plus getting such a high amount of people who put me in their author favorites and alerts… I bring to you this AU story.

**Warning**: SasuNaru, **yaoi**, shounen-ai, OOC (?), some fluff :D heavy **AU**. Rated **M** for safety :D There might be some Sakura-bashing here, but it will be like the series: start off as kinda useless, and then she'll improve, bit by bit :D **Spoilers** for the entirety of the series, since after all, I'll be changing and reusing a lot of stuff XP This is a Teacher!Sasuke with a twist :D Rushed and un-beta'd, because I wanted to post this asap XD This chapter is mostly Sasuke's POV.

I hope you enjoy **♥**

* * *

He was a person who blended well with the thick foliage that surrounded the outskirts of the Ninja Academy. 

Uchiha Sasuke, sixteen-year-old prodigy and ANBU Captain, didn't know why he suddenly had the urge to lurk around in the academy on this day. It was graduation, an event that didn't really spark fond memories for him. Parents laughed and boasted about their children –mostly exaggeration, though- while the newly-graduated _genins_ celebrated their small achievement.

Sasuke almost couldn't recall the last time he had been so naïve as those kids—the hopeful _genins_ who would mostly end up dead and commemorated in the Stone graveyard near the Uchiha Estates.

There were already some outstanding kids, according to the gossips of the laidback secretaries in the Hokage Tower. There is that Sai – an orphan who is already being eyed by the ANBU, because of the capabilities his older brother has displayed in the Great Shinobi Wars. Then, the top scorer of this year's exam was Haruno Sakura, but seeing her in that frilly dress and chattering with the longhaired blonde made Sasuke think that this girl was mostly just brains and little skill. Then there's the Hyuuga heiress, as well as the genius from the Nara clan.

The Sandaime was brimming with optimism as he made a speech at the academy – a speech that Sasuke already heard a couple of years ago. Sasuke didn't believe in those anymore. After all, he is currently living to attain his goals, and those goals didn't include—

"Yo!" A cheerful voice piped from behind his neck, and in a split-second later, his _Kusanagi_ has already ripped a piece of black cloth from the unwelcome visitor's mask. Hatake Kakashi, a _jounin_ notorious for his lateness, nervously inched away from him. Sasuke knew that the person that approached him was Kakashi, but his instincts –honed to kill, to draw blood- was sharper, faster.

"Kakashi," Sasuke acknowledged him with something less than a nod, but more than disrespect. After all, Kakashi was famous for being a Copy Ninja, as his left eye was something that belonged to the Uchiha clan.

"What brings you here?" Kakashi asked, moving to stand beside the crouched-on-the-tree-branch Sasuke. "You usually don't spend your rare free time watching _kids_, do you?"

If Sasuke was the type to roll his eyes, he would have done so. "My mission was finished 12 hours before the expected time." He smoothly stated. There was a pause, as black eyes suddenly found something vibrant, something _alive_. Kakashi followed Sasuke's gaze, and it turned out that Sasuke was staring at the _Kyuubi_'s vessel.

"…I was supposed to graduate with them," Sasuke ventured with an almost-sigh, eyes still locked into the blond's form. Uzumaki Naruto, also known as the _Kyuubi_'s vessel, was alone but his smile was still wide enough to fool those who didn't care past the exterior.

Sasuke watched Naruto approach Sakura, cheerfully –seemingly?- oblivious to the disapproving frown that marred the Harunos' faces.

"He's an interesting kid, huh?" The silver-haired man asked with a neutral voice, but there was a spark of amusement in his words. Sasuke knew that Kakashi was also referring to the feared _Kyuubi _housed inside the kid. But then, Sasuke also noticed that the blond was interesting in other ways too – he has that _smile_, something that bothered the Uchiha. He felt as though the Uzumaki kid was smiling forcedly, and he didn't like it.

Sasuke's charcoal eyes were focused on the blond kid that was happily smiling even though he was alone and was just rejected by his pink-haired friend. An uncomfortable -but not entirely unpleasant- feeling gripped his form.

"Yes…" Sasuke agreed in a soft murmur, unaware of the amused smile that graced Kakashi's hidden face, "Yes, he is."

* * *

**Rolling Star**

**Chapter One: The Promise of a Lifetime**

* * *

"…Congratulations on your graduation, and now, I'll assign you to your three-man _genin_ teams. I expect you all to cooperate with your groupmates and follow your _jounin _teacher's instructions, okay?" Umino Iruka, the best-loved teacher in the academy, said with a fond smile. 

_Genins_, the first rank in the ninja hierarchy, were all expectantly gazing up at Iruka. Iruka understood why—it may not look like it, but these genin teams are the foundations of lifetime friendships.

Iruka started assigning genins to their respective teams, with some kids happier with the results than others. Coffee-brown eyes swept across the remaining of the unassigned kids and hoped that Naruto would be happy with his team.

"Team Seven would be Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka paused here for a short while, eyes watching his favorite student's reaction closely, "Haruno Sakura," here, the pink-haired girl slumped gracelessly into her chair, while the blond cheered enthusiastically, "and Sai." Some of the girls sighed as they pointed at the good-looking teen, Sai.

"_Supposedly_," Iruka emphasized, "your _jounin _instructor would be Hatake Kakashi." Naruto frowned from his seat, since Kakashi's legendary lateness was well-known to the whole of Konoha. "However, he was assigned to an important, year-long A-rank mission, so we have to assign you a new instructor."

Sakura raised her hand primly from her seat, and Iruka acknowledged her. "So, Iruka-sensei, who is our new _jounin_ instructor?"

"Team Seven's instructor would be Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka said with a warm voice, waving a hand to beckon Sasuke inside the classroom. The aloof Uchiha entered the room and a rush of giggling from the girls filled the room.

Iruka nervously laughed as the students began whispering amongst each other—after all, Sasuke was a very popular person, and it was not surprising to hear these students chatter about the famous prodigy.

"Wow, Uchiha Sasuke's here!"  
"Isn't he, like, only sixteen?"  
"He's so cool!"  
"He looks so handsome…"  
"Keh, I look better than him!"  
"Damn, I wish I was Team Seven…"

Iruka turned to talk to Sasuke, but the dark-haired teen was already walking up the stairs towards his team.

The young teacher could feel his earlier fears of assigning the antisocial _jounin _to this job. "…I hope this was a good decision…"

* * *

"Che, what's so good about this person?" Naruto complained with a huff, a bit pained from Sakura's consistent hitting of his head. It wasn't his fault that his manly eyes failed to see the good things about this Sasuke-guy! 

The blond itched to show Sakura-chan and this Sasuke-guy about his prowess! He was great, damn it, and he was going to show his _genin_ team, and then the whole Konoha, and he will be acknowledged, and—

"I booked one of the lounges near the Hokage tower for our meeting after lunch," Sasuke's smooth voice cut through Naruto's zealous thoughts and Sakura's giggly squeals.

Naruto frowned deeply, displeased, because he could remember the time when Sasuke was supposedly a member of their batch. It was very unfair, Naruto decided, that this jerk was allowed to advance faster than the rest of them –as though he was special, as though he was _the best_, without even giving a chance to others—

"Ne, Sasuke-sensei," Naruto heard Sakura ask with a breathless voice—

"…It's Uchiha-sensei," Sasuke corrected without missing a beat, and Naruto felt a trickle of annoyance. Couldn't this person be more appreciative of the attention? If he disliked the attention, he could tell those girls –Sakura-chan, most importantly- that he wasn't interested! He was taking Sakura-chan's attention away from him, while Naruto was sure that Sasuke isn't interested at Sakura-chan at all!

Impulsively, Naruto jumped from his seat and faced his teacher, who was seated behind him. In one swift movement, he was already crouched on Sasuke's desk, blue eyes determinedly meeting Sasuke's unwavering stare. Sakura-chan hastily inched away from her adored teacher, all the while chastising Naruto for such rude behavior.

Their third member, Sai, was nowhere to be found.

Naruto was busy glaring hatefully at this revered _jounin_ –so what if he's an Uchiha?! He never learned how to work hard for attention, for kindness, did he?! He was one of those hailed people who never thought twice of people like Naruto!- and the blond was suddenly reminded of Sai's presence in the most shocking way possible.

With a wide smirk, Sai lightly shoved the glowering blond unto their seated teacher, while Sakura and the nearby classmates and _jounin_ instructors watched with horror.

Naruto's eyes widened. His wildly-flailing hands couldn't do anything to stop his descent—

And there, with a despairing Iruka and horrified classmates, they all witnessed Uzumaki Naruto's first kiss—

…With his new jounin instructor, Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

They were at the aforementioned lounge, but an almost-stifling silence hung over the spacious room. Footsteps of secretaries and _chuunin_ teachers were a dull sound from outside the door. 

Sasuke fixed his first-ever _genin_ team with a neutral stare. Sakura happily stared back at him, her emerald-green eyes practically shimmering with adoration for him. Sai noiselessly moved his fingers and drew in his sketchbook, empty-looking black eyes fixed on the sheet of paper.

Naruto, on the other hand, was not-so-stealthily avoiding all eye contact. Bruises adorned the tanned teen's arms – bruises that were mostly courtesy of his beloved Sakura-chan, and the rest of the Uchiha's fangirls. Sasuke could say that he almost pitied the blond kid.

"I want you to introduce yourselves, name, qualities, likes, dislikes," Sasuke started with a calm voice, "_dreams_," he added with a bitter tone, but nobody –except for Naruto, perhaps?- noticed.

"Naruto, you start," Sasuke commanded from his place behind the secretary's table, hands folded neatly across his chest as he prepared to listen to his _genin_ team. He wasn't really interested, but he needed to know—

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm going to be Hokage!" The blond boldly declared, a confident grin playing by his lips. Sasuke didn't miss the way Sakura rolled her eyes at the blond's enthusiastic introduction, or the way Sai smirked as he continued drawing.

"Hmm," Sasuke murmured, and gestured for Naruto to continue. Those cerulean eyes were still avoiding Sasuke's gaze, and he could see the light flush that colored the blond's cheeks. Sasuke figured that his student was still embarrassed about that… _incident_ in the classroom earlier; heck, even _he_ is embarrassed. It's just that… he was more experienced in controlling his reactions to shocking situations – like his first kiss being roughly stolen by his _genin_ student.

"I like ramen more than anything in the world!" Naruto exclaimed, while Sasuke held back the urge to ask 'really?', and Sakura delicately coughed to her hand. "And I don't like you!" Naruto added, pointing a shaky finger at Sasuke's pale face. Naruto was still looking away, and the blush doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon.

The young Uchiha prodigy gave his blond student a smirk. Naruto flushed some more. Sasuke's smirk widened. He was used to people –lots of people, actually- disliking him, loathing him, but nobody ever declared such 'dislike' with such a cute, innocent face. Sasuke decided that his student just got more interesting, if that was possible.

"Sakura, you're up next," Sasuke instructed, a bit bewildered at himself for being unable to take his eyes off the sulking –what, is he _pouting?_- blond.

Despite Sasuke's earlier coldness and corrections, he allowed himself to be addressed as 'Sasuke-sensei'.

"Anou, Sasuke-sensei," The only female in their team started with a soft voice, "I'm Haruno Sakura, and my parents work in a family business. I'm the top-ranked student in the graduation tests," Here, she shot Sasuke a significant look – something that the _jounin_ ignored easily.

"I dislike loudmouths," She paused meaningfully and glared at the cutely-pouting Naruto, "and I like cool and handsome and great and—" She was a bit breathless at this point, her eyes already fixed back to Sasuke's pale-skinned face.

"Sai?" The _jounin_ asked the last member of the team for his introduction, trying to cut Sakura's uncalled-for and unneeded adoring speech. The silent teen gently closed his sketchbook, and looked up to meet Sasuke's assessing gaze.

"I'm Sai, and my brother was just recently killed in a mission, making me an orphan. I specialize in _ninjutsu_ attacks that involve giving 'life' to special attack paintings. I'm not the top-ranked student, but I'm already a candidate for the next ANBU examination." He smirked arrogantly at Sakura, who was listening intently at his introduction. Sasuke decided that while the kid's smirks were a bit creepy, Sai was most probably the most agreeable person in this group.

"I dislike old hags, and I like saying the word 'penis', mostly because Naruto-kun makes such funny reactions to hearing that word—" Sai deftly avoided the blond's hurried punch that was probably aimed to shut him up, while one of his hands covered his ear as Sakura yelled at him to stop being like _that_.

On second thought, Sasuke decided that Sai is going to be problematic as well.

"Stop it—we're going to meet again later for our first mission," Sasuke announced, eager to get out of the room as a headache threatened to settle. He asked himself again— _why_ did he allow Iruka to sign him up for this _babysitting_?

Sasuke stared at Naruto for a few seconds before he left the room. Actually, he knew the answer. He just didn't want to admit it yet.

* * *

"He's just an arrogant bastard who got accelerated because he's a genius Uchiha—" Naruto continued his tirade, referring to the famous announcement by the Sandaime many years ago. Uchiha Sasuke was labeled as a genius, even though he just started at the academy, and he was immediately sent to the Chuunin exams, then the Jounin exams, then the ANBU— 

"He's a great guy!" Sakura argued, though her argument is rather weak; after all, can a person who insults his teammates and commands them all coldly be called 'great'? But Sakura was smitten –a person in love, as they say- and it wasn't likely that she would think that Sasuke is an arrogant bastard, to some extent.

"So what if he's 16 and already an ANBU Captain? So _what_?" Naruto stated, while Sakura turned to look at him in curious awe. "He's ANBU? How did you know that? I thought he was just a _jounin_!"

"H-he…" Naruto stammered, while he was thinking of how he always followed the news about Sasuke. After all, Sasuke, even before, has always been his secret self-proclaimed rival.

"Kyaaa! I like you more now, Sasuke-sensei!" Sakura squealed in delight, while Naruto fumed as he failed to drive his point across.

"Calling me an idiot…" Naruto muttered darkly, while Sakura shrieked in protest, "Well, you really are an idiot!"

Sai was amusedly watching the two interact, while Sasuke went off to the staff lounge for some more stuff before they could get their first mission.

"I think…" Sai said, words that couldn't be heard over the loud tones and exaggerated arguments, "that Sasuke-sensei likes Naruto-kun…"

* * *

It seemed that there were problems in the staff room – teachers perhaps wanting to trade off students after finding out said students have horrible traits? Whatever the reason was, it gave Team Seven –as well as the other teams- ample time to get bored. 

Sasuke dropped by and told them that they would meet back in the lounge after two more hours, so Team Seven decided to go out for a while. Naruto went to the bathroom, and on his way out, he saw his teacher quietly walking down the deserted hallway.

An accomplished –and proud of it!- prankster, Naruto crept behind Sasuke and did a _kage bunshin_. It was a forbidden technique that he learned from a stolen scroll fairly recently, but he already got the hang of it. He instructed his other clone to distract Sasuke as much as possible, while his original self went on to find the girl of his dreams.

As soon as he found Sakura, he did a _henge_, and while he disliked the fact that Sakura fawned over Sasuke, he would have to use that to his advantage. It was all nice and good, and Sakura was easily swooned –and Naruto hated it, because if she really liked Sasuke, wouldn't she know that he's a fake?

But then, all his gloomy thoughts were erased as he felt an uncomfortable ache near his backside. He felt as though… he wanted… _Constipated?_ But he didn't eat much!

Sasuke's smirking face and obsidian eyes showed up in his mind. "That cunning bastard…" Naruto gritted out, as he staggered away from a thoroughly-confused Sakura.

The real Naruto went to stop by _Ichiraku ramen,_ and true enough, Sasuke was there, feeding the clone with a continuous stream of ramen. Naruto _loved_ ramen, but even he felt nauseated as he stared at the piles of bowls that were stacked beside his clone.

"Oh, Naruto, huh?" Sasuke asked levelly, but there was a spark of amusement in his voice. The real Naruto removed the _henge_ and dispelled his clone. The pain in his backside didn't go away, and the blond vowed to avenge this prank-gone-wrong.

Naruto would have loved to give a hate-speech towards his smirking teacher, but all words were lost as he hastily fled towards the nearest bathroom. Because he was in such a hurry, he also didn't hear the softly-spoken words that fell from his teacher's lips.

"…It was a nice prank…"

* * *

"Sasuke-sensei!" Sakura's voice floated amongst the rows of benches on the nearby park. Sasuke frowned, trying hard not to think what Naruto planned to do while using his form. The pink-haired girl made a pleased sound as she finally spotted the teacher she had been looking for. After all, they were in the middle of connecting to each, understanding each other, when Sasuke-sensei suddenly ran off… 

"Ne, Sasuke-sensei—"

"Haruno Sakura, it's time to meet up," Sasuke said, holding a warning hand up. Sakura paused in her speech, looking inexplicably surprised at Sasuke's sudden venture to cold aloofness once more. The Uchiha almost shook his head at the absurdity of the situation. If this girl really claimed to like him, wouldn't she notice that he wasn't a bubbly innocent kid like Naruto? Wouldn't she notice that he wasn't kind?

"I was right…" Sasuke murmured, while Sakura was eagerly awaiting his next words, like a young, eager puppy. A puppy that would easily be misled by some opportunistic person, someone that she thought she could trust—

Sasuke, this time, shook his head, his bangs moving with the motion, as he chased those baleful thoughts away from his mind.

"Naruto would really be the only one who could possibly understand me," With that, Sasuke disappeared in a puff of smoke –presumably going to the meeting place to give out the mission- while Sakura stared blankly at the spot he left, her mind unable to make sense of those cryptic and bittersweet words.

* * *

It has been a couple of weeks since graduation, and _shinobi_ duties are still not giving way to some well-earned vacation. After a couple of C-rank and D-rank missions, Team Seven was more or less, acquainted with each other. 

"Teamwork…" Sasuke whispered into the meeting room of the Hokage Tower. He might be an instructor for Team Seven, but he was still an ANBU captain. He might not be able to participate in a number of ANBU missions, but he still was needed to manage the platoon, receive mission reports and demote/promote the necessary people.

There was a couple of polite knocks, and Iruka entered the room. He was here under the Sandaime's request—to make a full report about the assignment of various _jounins_ to the newly-graduated _genins_.

"Did you do the bell training?" Iruka asked with unveiled curiosity, and Sasuke almost sighed. But Iruka _was_ his teacher, and he decided that making time to talk to his ex-teacher would be harmless.

"Yes," Sasuke started, but he knew what Iruka was really asking about, "they all passed. Naruto did fine." Okay, so he left out the fact that he was rather impressed both by Naruto's sheer naivety and strong determination—but Sasuke knew that Iruka knew about those thoughts already.

The bell training is one of the most popular ice-breaker activities for genin teams, and it was almost like a tradition passed down from the Sandaime, to the Sannin Jiraiya, to the Yondaime, to Kakashi, to Sasuke, and now, to Team Seven.

Iruka watched him for a short while, before the young teacher commented, "It's nice to see you warming up to others, Sasuke-kun."

The prodigy held back an undignified snort. Him? Warming up? That's a lie, but Iruka seemed optimistic and Sasuke would feel bad if he would have to say that he's not really cut-out to be a good and caring teacher.

"You have become more talkative, too," Iruka added with a smile, most assuredly referring to the awe-inspiring bickering held between himself and his blond student. It was mostly ridiculous banter about who's better and who's an idiot, but the awe there is inspired by the fact that _he_, Uchiha-prodigy-Sasuke, was bickering with someone. He has been hailed as the Ice Prince –untouchable, unapproachable- and him speaking that much, especially in almost-pointless bickering is very, very shocking.

Sasuke wanted to argue that it was because it was absurd to let Naruto continue on thinking that he's better. It was like, for the first time –or maybe _second_?- in his life, someone wasn't willing to think that he's a prodigy that everyone should fawn upon. Sasuke wanted to prove to Naruto, in a way, that he _deserved_ the title 'prodigy'.

Before Sasuke could reply to Iruka's statements though, the _chuunin_ teacher was already arranging his papers and moving on to wait for the Sandaime outside.

The brown-haired man stopped near the doorway though, and gave Sasuke a calculating stare. "Naruto always mentions _you_ in his stories," Iruka said lightly, but there was a very strong emphasis on 'you', that Sasuke didn't want to ignore.

Sasuke remained silent as Iruka left. However, his mind was busy trying to convince himself, that a slight change in his perspective, in his actions, would maybe help him in his future goals…

* * *

"Tomorrow, we'll be leaving for a B-rank mission," Sasuke announced to his team, apparently ignoring Sakura's and Naruto's cheers about having a mission that was higher than their regular C-rank and D-rank missions. 

Sasuke was looking forward to this mission –the first major mission of his team- because this would be a good chance to observe how well Naruto could manage the _Kyuubi_'s powers. Sakura was loudly doing an inventory of clothes she would bring to the mission, while Sai was playfully taunting Naruto about being a coward.

"Pack light, be amiable to the one we'll escort, and see you here on this bridge tomorrow, 5 AM sharp." Sasuke briskly said, before making his way back to the Hokage Tower. He still had an assassination mission tonight, so he'll need to repack his _kunai_ and prepare his _Kusanagi_.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out, moving away from Sai and Sakura, while Sasuke almost sighed as Naruto neglected –_yet again_- to use the proper '-sensei' suffix to his name.

"Yes?" Sasuke asked, without turning around.

"…Good luck on your mission," The blond said after a few moments' pause, leaving Sasuke perplexed as to how his student knew about his assassination mission.

* * *

It was almost two in the morning, and the village was peacefully asleep. Sasuke just finished his assassination mission from the nearby town, and for some unexplainable reason, he felt that he had to drop by Naruto's apartment before he went back to the eerie Uchiha Estates. 

He crouched by the tree branch that settled directly outside the apartment window. From his position, he could see Naruto sprawled inelegantly on his bed, rumpled bedsheets and pillows were in all directions.

"He's a normal kid," He whispered to the glass window, heavily aware that this window is something that many ignorant kids and hateful pranksters targeted. Naruto was the container of the _Kyuubi_, and adults feared and hated him. That hate was transferred to the children, even though they didn't have any idea why they hated the blond.

A backpack was half-opened near the foot of the bed, with extra clothes peeking out from the opening. A half-smile appeared in Sasuke's face, as he watched his student toss and turn in his bed.

His ANBU mask has been thoroughly stained with his target's guards' blood, so it rested on his pocket. He idly wondered what would Naruto think –or do, or say- if he saw his so-called 'arrogant-bastard' teacher watching him sleep.

It was almost tempting to wake Naruto up just to see his reaction, but Sasuke figured that he didn't want his student awkward and sleep-deprived on their mission tomorrow.

As silently as he appeared beside Naruto's windows, he disappeared –without a trace- into the dark cloak of the night.

* * *

_"Sensei," He began in a broken voice, "why did it all come down to this?" He sounded weary and tired, as though he has fought in years without any hope, light, anything._

_The person he was talking to also looked tired – from the lines that ran down from those eyes, down to his lower cheeks, from the slight droop in that usually-arrogant posture. Yet, Sasuke looked as though he could fight for ten more years._

_At times like this, Naruto wished there was someone who knew Sasuke better than him. Kakashi was a close candidate, but there were various vital cracks between their relationship that Naruto could connect between himself and Sasuke. Itachi, on the other hand…_

_Naruto shook his head. No, Itachi was the reason why Sasuke was like this. Itachi was the person who drove Sasuke to this. Anger, loneliness and betrayal embraced the blond, much like the way the liquid from the waterfalls clung to his body._

_Sasuke looked nicer with his hair down like that, Naruto thought weakly, as the Kyuubi's whispers about power and victory began to eat away at his fatigued form. Sasuke's red eyes chilled him to the spot, as black chakra began to gather around the prodigy Uchiha._

_"I'll make you win, Naruto," The Kyuubi once again whispered with an enticing sneer. Naruto closed his eyes, accepting this despite his doubts. He knew that the demon might take over completely, but it was a risk he was willing to take._

_It was a risk he was willing to take because of Sasuke._

_Everything, for saving Sasuke._

_Everything, for Sasuke._

_When Naruto opened his eyes, they were also stained red, like the Sharingan that graced his opponent. His whiskered cheeks became more pronounced, while his nails became longer, and his grin became more predatory._

_Naruto felt like crying, pleading for his teacher, for his best friend, to stop this insanity. "I'll stop you, no matter what," Naruto hissed instead, as Sasuke performed the seals for his powerful _Chidori

_It was the promise of the lifetime._

* * *

Uzumaki Naruto woke up to the sound of the chirping birds and the painful ringing of his alarm clock.

Wet blotches designed his pillow, and a quick look in the mirror confirmed that he had been crying in his sleep. He tried to recall the reason for such tears, but his pain started to pound mercilessly into his head.

He was in the middle of rechecking his bag for the stuff he'd bring to the escorting mission today, when he suddenly felt dizzy. He placed a hand on his forehead, trying to steady himself.

Naruto never sounded so lost and innocent, as he spoke to the contents of his backpack. "…What the hell did I dream about…?"

_It was the promise of the lifetime._

* * *

**To Be Continued**

Okay, long A/N. To start off the end of my temporary hiatus, I bring upon you **Rolling Star**! It's title is based on the song Rolling Star by YUI, because I was inspired by the song's lyrics XD I think that it will be loads of fun writing (or re-writing, in this case :P) this fic :D I hope you all support me on this one!

I'm still adjusting with my new schedule on my summer term, so I hope that you'll excuse the slow updates -.- Once I finish doing the assigned readings and stuff, I'll be able to do regular updates :D

**Changes from the canon: **Basically, there are going to be some vital changes as the plot progresses. The most apparent ones here in this chapter would be (1) Sasuke's 16 here; (2) Rookie 9 would be 15 years old, while the others' ages would be adjusted accordingly; (3) Kakashi is out on a year-long mission (so what would happen if Kakashi comes back?); (4) Sai is in Team Seven instead and he already knows Naruto from before (so he's a bit more friendlier now, compared to their earlier meeting in the canon).

Why did I put Naruto as 15 instead of 12? It's because I'll feel less guilty once I make them kiss and stuff XDXD Sasuke seems more-than-necessarily interested with the _Kyuubi_? Suspicious…? …You'll find out in the future :P Yep, Naruto is a bit vengeful of Sasuke, but Sasuke's acceleration in ranks would add more fuel to the rivalry, right? Hehe, I want a developing-romance thing here, rather than love-at-first-sight, so, yeah… :D

Some scenes from the canon would be retold faster or slower, depending on the amount of SasuNaru I'd inject in the scene XD;; This chapter was originally a lot longer than this, but I figured that retelling an entire scene with very little changes from the canon would be rather boring :P So, yep :D I hope this chapter was still pleasing :D

**Reviews are love ****♥**


End file.
